If it's phased and actually incorporated into the narrative, I don't have a problem with it. It worked alright for 5.3.

EDIT: I'd like to reiterate the difference between 5.3 and the proposed post-SoO crap:
"Giving them something to do isn't the same giving them a reason to go there. Reworking Ashenvale in a post 5.4 patch as you describe sounds pretty lame. After fighting a massive battle to remove the most hated man in Azeroth with an expansion's worth of buildup, you are sent off to do chores... in an area which is even more optional than 5.3. The Barrens/Durotar stuff at least pushes the story towards the climax and acts as a setup for how the invasion of Orgrimmar will happen."

Last edited by Aquamonkey; 2013-07-30 at 09:17 PM.

Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment

´So.. sorry to bring this up but..you know that .."thing" (Med'an).. is that "thing" cannon still?
...as much have some have wished otherwise, yes. (Loreology)

If it's phased and incorporated into the narrative of the new expansion, I don't have a problem with it. It worked alright for 5.3.

yes but he was referencing old zones ( as in not max level)
Cata changes were done for gameplay reason not purely lore, to make the leveling better and more engaging (since most sub losses are from people who dont reach max level)

Plus part of the whole vibe for new expansions is just new zones and lands, places we havent been before

We have faced trials and danger, threats to our world and our way of life. And yet, we persevere. We are the Horde. We will not let anything break our spirits!"

yes but he was referencing old zones ( as in not max level)
Cata changes were done for gameplay reason not purely lore, to make the leveling better and more engaging (since most sub losses are from people who dont reach max level)

Plus part of the whole vibe for new expansions is just new zones and lands, places we havent been before

I know. That's why I've been saying that if they were to make 90+ go back to those zones to show the post-SoO outcomes, there'd have to be compelling gameplay to give us a reason to go there. Doing so takes up deveopment resouces. Something Blizzard isn't going to spend after the last raid of an expansion just for lore flavor because they would want to put those resources on the next expansion.

Unless those things overlap. Like we are sent to those areas for things happening in the next expansion and they just happen to reflect post-SoO because that is the timeframe in which they occur.

Last edited by Aquamonkey; 2013-07-30 at 09:24 PM.

Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment

´So.. sorry to bring this up but..you know that .."thing" (Med'an).. is that "thing" cannon still?
...as much have some have wished otherwise, yes. (Loreology)

Bloody hell this thread is getting into a loop.. The aliance will never have enough "compensation" so the debate is getting silly..

Ill give blizz at least a thumbs up in keeping ppl pasionate about the lore..

The Alliance will never have enough compensation!?

Hell man, I'm still trying to find the first installment of said "compensation" for the lopsided design of Cataclysm ("Compensation" that's not also mutually beneficial to the Horde, I mean - so don't wave the "Deposing the Warchief" at me, as damn near every Horde player and character hated him since Wath).

That's like all the Gnomes shouting "Damnit! We want to see more Gnome love!" and you saying "My God... they fixed the Black Morass so you guys don't swim anymore. Are you NEVER satisfied!?"

Isn't it immature that you call him Donald "Dump"?
I agree, it's childish and stupid - and that's my point. it's meant as a deliberate mockery of his blatant disrespect via using "Crooked Hillary", and thus I can call him "Dump" since he dumps his campaign promises, dumps campaign managers, dumps his wives, wants to dump the first amendment, dumps common-sense war ethics and dumps the use of proper English in favor of a mongrel white-trash dialect.

Immersion is useless and a waste of resources if players don't have a reason to go there.

The same can be said for any zone and any area in game.

Theramore was also directly involved in the events of the scenario for which it was changed.

Other areas have changed as a result of dungeons and scenarios and raids and quests without that change being reflected in game. different?

But a patch just for doing tedious crap after the final raid of the expansion isn't likely going to be worth it for Blizzard. They aren't going to throw resources at something like that when they could spend it on the next expansion.

"Tedious" meaning doing the same stuff you 'll be doing in the new continent anyway, with the main difference being where you do it.

As it is...it could be done. It could be done in an engaging fashion. Simply writing off the stories and quests and lore that can be written as not worth it because you think the end result will be "tedious" is simply you not putting in any effort into developing new stories such as Ashenvale....the Demon remnant has succeeded in opening a portal and the area is now the centre of the demon invasion or Azshara....main focus of the Naga assault on the Night Elf territories and the front line in the efforts to hold them back.

Story is what you make it and if you require gameplay to be present to update a zone, gameplay can be provided.

As it is, a lore based victory, a few lines of quest text, a reward if a copy of the Actual treaty specifying terms and conditions and so on woudl be acceptable to many Allaicne players, Just something to sto[p them looking like a bunch of suckers.

Except those zones are building up for the overarching story and feed into the climactic ending, not some vanity wind-down tacked on after the climax of the expansion is over.

They didn't make a patch after DS devoted to Aggra pushing out a baby orc. Or the Aspects walking around adjusting to their mortal lives. They didn't even bother making a patch about the Earthen Ring sticking around the Maelstrom to repair it.

Originally Posted by Talen

Other areas have changed as a result of dungeons and scenarios and raids and quests without that change being reflected in game. different?

Just keep ignoring the relevant points about the scale of the things they changed:
it was a tiny location compared to sweeping zone changes. Removing something and replacing it with an empty crater is a far cry from changing all the NPCs and architecture of a zone.

Originally Posted by Talen

"Tedious" meaning doing the same stuff you 'll be doing in the new continent anyway, with the main difference being where you do it.

I've already posted this:
If it's phased and actually incorporated into the narrative, I don't have a problem with it. It worked alright for 5.3.

And:
That's why I've been saying that if they were to make 90+ go back to those zones to show the post-SoO outcomes, there'd have to be compelling gameplay to give us a reason to go there. Doing so takes up deveopment resouces. Something Blizzard isn't going to spend after the last raid of an expansion just for lore flavor because they would want to put those resources on the next expansion.

Unless those things overlap. Like we are sent to those areas for things happening in the next expansion and they just happen to reflect post-SoO because that is the timeframe in which they occur.

Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment

´So.. sorry to bring this up but..you know that .."thing" (Med'an).. is that "thing" cannon still?
...as much have some have wished otherwise, yes. (Loreology)

And old zone is still and old zone.
Which do you think Blizz and players prefer, new content in an old zone or new content in a new zone?

And there is literally zero reason to redo leveling zones again, gameplay always trumps lore for WoW.
And new content has to be dynamic, what exactly would then be making an old zone into a max content zone provide? What is its purpose? What is it supposed to lead to?

Last edited by Dreknar20; 2013-07-30 at 11:22 PM.

We have faced trials and danger, threats to our world and our way of life. And yet, we persevere. We are the Horde. We will not let anything break our spirits!"

Except those zones are building up for the overarching story and feed into the climactic ending, not some vanity wind-down tacked on after the climax of the expansion is over.

And there's no reason why old zones can't be used for the same purpose. And what's wrong with a wind down? Closure in a story is important.

They didn't make a patch after DS devoted to Aggra pushing out a baby orc. Or the Aspects walking around adjusting to their mortal lives. They didn't even bother making a patch about the Earthen Ring sticking around the Maelstrom to repair it.

But that was mentioned in lore.

it was a tiny location compared to sweeping zone changes. Removing something and replacing it with an empty crater is a far cry from changing all the NPCs and architecture of a zone.

Depends on how you do it. A straight swap Horde NPC for Alliance NPC won't be that difficult.

That's why I've been saying that if they were to make 90+ go back to those zones to show the post-SoO outcomes, there'd have to be compelling gameplay to give us a reason to go there. Doing so takes up deveopment resouces. Something Blizzard isn't going to spend after the last raid of an expansion just for lore flavor because they would want to put those resources on the next expansion.

Which is why I've pointed out that a lore based victory would be acceptable. And pointed out that developing the zone CAN add gameplay, it CAN be tied into the next Xpac if desired and it CAN add value by providing impact and satisfaction to players.

What it can't do is fill your personal criteria if those criteria are "find any spurious reason not to do it" . It can be done in a manner relevant to the next XPac.And yes...it would take resources from other aspects. The question is whether that diversion is worth it. Whether throwing Alliance players even a small bone is worth a small investment in effort.

Originally Posted by Dreknar20

And old zone is still and old zone.
Which do you think Blizz and players prefer, new content in an old zone or new content in a new zone?

And there is literally zero reason to redo leveling zones again, gameplay always trumps lore for WoW.
And new content has to be dynamic, what exactly would then be making an old zone into a max content zone provide? What is its purpose? What is it supposed to lead to?

And there's no reason why old zones can't be used for the same purpose. And what's wrong with a wind down? Closure in a story is important.

Whatever patch is coming after 5.4 is the first time they're going to give a wind-down patch to show the aftermath of the climax.

Originally Posted by Talen

But that was mentioned in lore.

And we still have no idea what actually happens at the end of SoO.

Originally Posted by Dave Kosak

Will the other leaders give Varian flak for going over their heads in the letting the horde go with no reparations made from them
Just because we don't take ten minutes to show negotiations doesn't mean there's no reparations. (Source)

Plus there's a whole other patch after SoO for them to reveal the aftermath.

Originally Posted by Dave Kosak

Curious, will we see Org back to normal after 5.4 such as the troll district? Be odd to see current 5.4 PTR next expac.
Most of Orgrimmar permanent changes will happen in a future patch, but before next expansion. (Source)

Originally Posted by Talen

Depends on how you do it. A straight swap Horde NPC for Alliance NPC won't be that difficult.

And what of the actual gameplay to get players to go there to see the change?

Originally Posted by Talen

Which is why I've pointed out that a lore based victory would be acceptable. And pointed out that developing the zone CAN add gameplay, it CAN be tied into the next Xpac if desired and it CAN add value by providing impact and satisfaction to players.

What it can't do is fill your personal criteria if those criteria are "find any spurious reason not to do it" . It can be done in a manner relevant to the next XPac.And yes...it would take resources from other aspects. The question is whether that diversion is worth it. Whether throwing Alliance players even a small bone is worth a small investment in effort.

We don't even know what the next expansion is, Blizzard does. If they though putting stuff in those zones would add to the next expansion, they would do it. We don't even know the full extent of SoO ending. People are getting their panties in a bunch over stuff that is over 6 months away from every being implemented.

Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment

´So.. sorry to bring this up but..you know that .."thing" (Med'an).. is that "thing" cannon still?
...as much have some have wished otherwise, yes. (Loreology)

"Just because we don't take ten minutes to show negotiations doesn't mean there's no reparations." Isn't this the major problem with mmo story telling when you get down to it. We spend a lot of time telling but not showing. How much better would have Cata storyline have been if we has seen more of what he was up too rather than. "Look he's evil, now go kill him." It wasn't quite that simple but wasn't far from it.

Isn't this the major problem with mmo story telling when you get down to it. We spend a lot of time telling but not showing.

Sadly, I fear that the developers got way too comfortable with canalizing narratives through implied in-game messages and - above all else - World of Warcraft-related novels. I have seen a couple of instances on off-MMO-Champion sites where many players have ceased to expect any substantial movement of the world in the WoW gameplay and delegating newcomers to lore books and novels was performed as if there was no other way around it.